‘Yolanda’ aid worker gunned down in Iloilo

A local official of an international humanitarian group providing aid to victims of super-typhoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) died after being shot in Estancia, Iloilo, police said Saturday.

Two men on a motorcycle shot the 24-year-old Tenefrancia in Brgy. Canoan around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Salinas said by phone.

Tenefrancia suffered four bullet wounds to the body and was brought to the hospital, but expired along the way, the police official said.

The assailants were seen fleeing towards the Balasan area after the incident. Responding policemen found five empty shells of a caliber-.45 pistol at the crime scene.

Salinas said investigators are now looking into Tenefrancia’s work to determine the possible motive for the killing.

Tenefrancia had been in charge of hiring and dispatching vans that bring fellow ACF workers to areas devastated by “Yolanda” in Estancia, other parts of Iloilo’s fifth district, and nearby areas of Capiz, he said.

Salinas said he has directed police in Estancia to speed up the process of identifying the gunmen, as well as those who may be behind the attack.

Additional policemen have also been deployed to help secure members of ACF and other aid organizations operating in Iloilo’s fifth district, he said.

“Nakakahiya kasi kung ganito, tinutulungan na nga ng ACF ‘yung victims ng ‘Yolanda’ tapos may ganitong mangyayari. This would appear to be a big ingratitude to them. But we maintain that this is an isolated incident, not an attack on the whole of ACF or all humanitarian aid groups here,” Salinas said.

ACF started operating in Estancia after “Yolanda” devastated different parts of the country, particularly in the Visayas, on November 8, 2013.

Estancia suffered an oil spill when a barge owned by the National Power Corporation was wrecked in Brgy. Botongon at the height of the typhoon.

Some 200,000 liters of bunker oil spilled to the town’s coast and rivers, affecting the local fishing industry, food supply, and posing a danger to residents’ health, according to authorities.

That incident, along with the destruction of many houses by the typhoon, forced a number of families to evacuate from the coasts of Estancia and neighboring areas. (John Roson)